Potato-digger



I. W. HOOVER.

POI'ATO BIGGER.

(No Model.)

v UNITED STATEs PATENT@ OFFICE.

IsAAc w. HOOVER, OE' MILAN, OHIO.

PoTATo-DlGGl-:R-

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 318,254, dated May 19, 1885. Application filed March 16, 1885. (No modell.)n

.To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, IsAAc W. HOOVER, of Milan, Erie county, and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Potato-Diggers, the nature of which consists in a novel construction and arrangement of mechanism for digging or removing the tubers from the ground, sifting and separating them from the earth, stones,weeds, and stalks, and delivering them at the rear of the machine, on one side, into a receptacleor upon the ground to be gathered up, and the weeds or refuse not already sifted from the potatoes are discharged from the machine on the opposite side from the delivery of the potatoes.

The mechanism consists, in part, of an endless open elevator and a screen or sifter, on which the potatoes are moved from the ground byl a shovel or scoop at the front end of the machine. This elevator and screen aid in sifting the dirt and refuse from the potatoes, which are carried by the elevator to a separator and sifters, where again the separation of the potato from the refuse is induced, and the potatoes delivered from the machine on one side and the refuse upon the other.

That the said machine may be more fully understood, reference will be had to the following specication, and to the annexed drawings, making part of the same, in which- Figure l is a side elevation; Fig. 2, a plan view. Figs. 3 and 4 are detached sections.

In the drawings like letters denote like parts in the lseveral views, in which A represents the frame of the machine, made of iron,wood, or of both, combined in such manner as may be best adapted to the purpose designed. Said frame is mounted upon the drivingwheels B B, to which is attached the gear C, engaging the pinion D, Figs. 1, 2. The shaft of the pinion D is provided with bearings in the sides of the frame A, and on the shaft is a drum Or roller, E, Fig. 2. At each end of this roller is a sprocket-wheel having a sprocket.

belt or chain, F, on each end of the drum. These chains or sprocket-belts extend to and engage each, respectively, a sprocket-Wheel on the ends of the roller G, Fig. 2.

H H are also sprocket belts or chains, each connected, respectively, to a sprocket-wheel on the Said roller G, and pass over or around the ends of the roller I, placed in the lower end oi the machine. Over the rollers G and I pass a series of belts, J, having a number of crossslats, K, attached thereto. Between the belts .I is arranged a series of rods, L, forming an inclined sieve or screen. At the lower front end is a scoop-shovel, M, attached to the frame, as seen in the drawings. On each side of this shovel is a rotary cutter, N, each having a caster-wheellike joint-connection at O, with its respective arm Pextending back and fastened to the sides of the frame, as seen in Fig. l more plainly.

' Q is a draft-bar, to which the team is attached for drawing the machine. The casterjoint O connection oi' the rotary cutters N to the arms P P allows each one to turn as the nature of the work in the operation of the machine may require, in turning to avoid obstructions, or for other cause.

Attached to the side of the machine is a shifter, R, Fig. 2, having a lever, one end of which engages the hub of the pinion D,which is iitted to the shaft with a feather-key, so that the pinion may be moved in and out of gear with the spur-wheel C. By means of this gear lever shifter, which is pivotal in its attachment to the machine, the working mechanism may be moved in and outof gear, so that the machine can traverse from one place to another with only the driving or carrying wheels B B in operation until put in gear with the pinion D. 1

The handles S S form a frame which is pivoted or journaled at its inner ends upon a sleeve, T, projecting from the side of the frame A, as indicated in Fig. 3, which isatransverse vertical section inthe line x, Fig. 2. This attachment of the handles S S is alike on both sides ofthe machine-that is, the arrangement described in Fig. 3 is the same on both sides at U U; hence the description of Fig. 3 will be suficient for both. Said Fig. 3 is an enlarged4 view.

through the sleeves, (one is shown at T,) and to the ends of the respective journals is keyed a pulley, W W, from which a belt passes and engages a pulley, X, respectively, on each side, as seen in Fig. 2. These pulleys XX are attached to the crank-shaft a, Fig. 2, jour- IOO The journals V of the roller G extend.

naled in standards b b on the frame-handles. To the cranks of the shaft a are hung rakingarms c c, the upper ends of which are connected to a rod or link, d d, which is attached to a cross-bar, e, Figs. l and 2. By this arrangement of the raking-arms and their attachrnent by links to the cross-bar they have a stirring and drawing or raking backward movement and a lifting or raising motion as they are moved forward by the action of the cranks as the shaft revolves, which is seen in the drawings, and fully set forth. To this frame-handle or handle-frame is-journaled a shaft, f, having crank ends g g, which are connected to one end of the links h h, while the opposite ends of said links are fastened to the frame of the machine at any suitable point. This link h arrangement is alike on both sides of the machine, as seen in the drawings.I

A lever, i, is secured to the shaft f, by means of which lever in its relation and cooperation with the shaft f and links h h the said handle-frame with its attachments arranged as herein'shown may be raised and lowered to or from the ground, as the nature of the case may require, according to the condition of the ground, and held in such position by the lever being engaged in theratchet or rack j, Figs. l and 2. Connected with the sifting-frame S are arranged a series of curved rods or bars, forming a vibrating sifter or separating screen, k, the discharging ends of which are free, while the opposite ends are fastened to the cross-bar Z, forming a part of the sifting-frame.

Directly under the bars or rods 7c is another sifting-screen, m, the bars of which are also curved laterally, but in an opposite direction to the screen above it. The bars ofthe screen m are closer together than bars k in the screen above, to make the lower screen finer in sifting. The free" ends :of the screen-bars m extend out inthe rear nearly to the ends of the handles, while the opposite ends are fastened to the same crossbar,b, as the sifter k' above. These sifters vibrate jointly by means of a connecting-rod, n, on each side of the frame S. One end of each rod is jointed to a wrist-pin in the pulleys W W, and the other ends to the vibrating sifter-frame at n. (Indicated in Figs. l and 2.) The sifter-frame is hung by vibrating links O O-two on each side-to the frame S in Fig. l.v These links or hangers have a jointed connection at their terminals, to allow of the sifters vibration longitudinally by the action of the pulleys W W in transmitting motion to the siftersthrough the links n n, journaled to a wrist on the pulleys, motion being conveyed to the pulleys from the driving-wheels by the gearing C D,

, thence to the roller G by means of the sprocket wheels and belts F, the pulleysWWbeing upon the shaft ends of the roller G, and by means of the links om the sifters are vibrated, as before stated.

In the practical operation of the said machine the team is attached to the draw-bar Q,

and the driver manages the machine by the handles of the frame S in the lrear similar to the management of a plow. As the machine moves along, the rotary cutters separate or divide the hills of potatoes from the valleys between longitudinally. This separation allows the shovel to scoop up the hills of potatoes, which pass back over the roller I onto the open series of endless belts J, which form an elevator and an inclined sifter, which carries the potatoes, stalks, weeds, and dirt that is not sifted through the elevator and between `the bars L, up over the roller G, onto the sifter la, and by means of the raking-arms c c the mass carried up is so agitated and separated that the potatoes will pass through the upper vibrating sifter, k, to the lower vibrating sifter, m, while the weeds and stalks are passed off by the motion of the sifter and deposited on one side of the machine, and the-potatoes are v again sifted by the lower screen or sifter, m, and deposited on the opposite side of the machine on the ground to be gathered up or in a receptacle for them. In Fig. 2 the curved form 4of the vibrating sifters k m is seen, lshowing the bars of the sifters curved in an opposite direction to each other, for the purpose of the terminal separation of the refuse from the potatoes and discharging the same separately on opposite sides of the machine.

As the load of potatoes, dirt, stones, stalks, &c., is being carried up over the roller G,

dirt, refuse,- &c., is sifted through the series fof endless belts .I and bars L of the screen to the ground, and the larger or more bulky parts are carried up by the endless belts J onto the vibrating sifters km, and again asifting and separation of the load takes place by depositing the refuse on one side of the machine and the potatoes on the other, as before stated.

By means of the sprocket wheels and belts connecting the rollers G and I, and also the rollers E and G, a positive motion is given to the operating mechanism, rotating the endless belts, raking-arms, and sifters from the gear O, Fig. 2, attached to the driving-wheel and transmitted to the. pinion D, thereby causing a certainty of operation.

What I claim as my improvements, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a potato-digger, the vibrating double sifters k m, arranged one above the other, having curved bars in reverse direction to each other, in combination with raking-arms c c, journaled upon a crank-shaft, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. In a potato-digger, the adjustable double -sifters k m, arranged one above the other and hung by links in connection with the frame S, to admit of longitudinal vibration thereof, as shown, in combination with the raking-arms c c, and crank-shaft arranged above the sifters, as and for the purpose substantially as specied.

3. In combination with a potato-digger, the

IIO

sleeve T, projecting from the side of the frame A, with the shaft of the roller G, having its bearing therein, and the inner ends of the frame S, hung upon the outside of said sleeve, 5 and arranged in (3o-.relation With the adjustable vibrating sifters 7c m, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

4. In a potato-digger, the adjustable frame S, j ournaled or hung at its inner end upon the ro sleeve T, in combination with the vibrating sifters k m, links h, a shaft having cranks g g,

and lever i, with a ratchet for engaging said lever, whereby the said frame may be raised or lowered and held in position in the manner and for the purpose substantially as hereinbe- 15 fore described.

In testimony whereof I affix my si gnature in presence of two Witnesses. y

. ISAAC W. HOOVER.

Witnesses:

W. H. BURRIDGE, J. H. BURRIDGE. 

